Paris Travels: Part One

I took so many photos in Paris and have so much to share so this is going to be part one! Last week Tuesday, I woke up stupidly-4-o-clock-early to catch the Eurostar to Paris from London. The journey was okay and we arrived just before lunch time. I stayed at the Plug Inn Hostel in Monmartre which was pretty basic but comfortable. After being so tired, me and a few people chilled out whilst others went straight to the Eiffel Tower (more to come on that one!). Me and one girl adventured out into the town to see what was about which is where my ankle snapped walking over a wet bridge so I ended up spraining my ankle! Thankfully after elevating my leg during the night, the swelling went down and I was able to walk rather than hobble in pain!

Day two we adventured closer to our apartment to see what was around. When asked what Paris is like, I found it very hard to describe. It's similar to London yet at the same time the complete opposite. Even though London isn't the safest place in the world; I feel safe there yet in Paris I didn't... partly because the hostel we was staying at was a five minute walk away from the red light district!

The wealth in Paris really saddened me too. There was a lot of homeless people on the streets begging for money. It was incredibly disheartening but as a student on a budget of euros, there wasn't much I could do!

The metro (their train network) took a little getting used to but we figured it out in the end; with the help of a map of course! I shot a little personal project out there which I have titled "Beautiful Moments" which I may make a regular feature? I shot a lot of street photography whilst there which will be recognisable over the upcoming Paris posts.

In total I took 22 or so polaroids but am yet to scan these to show you. Below is the first polaroid I took. Originally, I was trying to photograph the Arc de Triomphe landmark but a mother and her child stood infront of it awaiting a photo. I knew the photograph I was about to take would be a good one so I quickly snapped it and one more for them to keep, but this time closer. I handed it to the little boy and seeing his face light up as the image magically started developing before his eyes was one of the most beautiful things. He walked off into the distance gripping his polaroid tightly in his hands totally besotted by it.

One thing I didn't like was how crazy the roads were! I already learnt from Sam not to treat the zebra crossings like UK zebra crossings but wow, every driver is eccentric in Paris! They have the red/green man system too except when it's green the cars still move.... so it's literally like a game of chicken run!